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The Mount is expanding its fleet of clean fuel shuttles to transport a growing number of riders between its cross-town campuses in Los Angeles.

Mount Goes Green With New Clean Fuel Shuttles

Jan. 14, 2010 -- Travel between the two Los Angeles campuses that make up Mount Saint Mary’s University just got greener. College officials recently purchased two new, 32-seat buses and converted them to run on the clean-fuel option of compressed natural gas (CNG).

It’s a 16-mile trek between the downtown Doheny Campus and the Chalon Campus in Brentwood. But drive time can significantly increase at peak times along the region’s notorious Interstate 10 and 405 freeways, says College transportation manager Patricia Williams. “The College has been going green for some time,” Williams says. “We want to contribute to that mission, and we decided to go with compressed natural gas to do our share and burn cleaner fuel and contribute to helping our planet.”

Shuttle ridership at the College shot up from an average of about 2,000 riders a week in January 2010 to 3,200 riders a week last August. The increased ridership comes at a time of record enrollment for the incoming freshman class, and at a time of unprecedented access to shuttles through expanded hours of operation. Shuttles run nearly 17 hours each day.

The College has plans to purchase more of the clean fuel buses, which cost about $135,000 each. The Mount has a total of 10 shuttles in its fleet, as well as two passenger vans.

“The service is in incredible demand and we welcome that because it’s taking cars off the freeways, as well as helping alleviate parking issues at Chalon,” Williams says. “Students can do homework on the shuttles, and faculty take the shuttles and have more interactions with students. People can even take naps.”

Even the golf carts used by housekeeping and facilities staff on both campuses are going green. Of eight in use, six are now electric.